Flint Hills Discovery Center
Manhattan, Kan. – The Flint Hills Discovery Center (FHDC) is one of the first of 11 national recipients selected by competitive application to participate in the Science in Vivo grant offered by the Science Festival Alliance through the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Simons Foundation – Science Sandbox. This award will fund the project: Creating a Flint Hills Fandom as one of their “experimental sites.”
The project will bring the science and heritage of the Flint Hills, the last remaining stand of the Tallgrass Prairie of North America, to an audience with whom we do not normally have a stage. Beginning on Saturday, September 1, the FHDC education staff will bring fun, tailgate games adapted with environmental science themes to all of the KSU home games prior to kick-off. This fun, family-friendly programming will explore topics like pollination, resource cycling, and animal biology. Education staff will also host a hands-on Flint Hills touch table and live reptile encounters. Please be sure to stop by and visit the FHDC education team on game day!
Science in Vivo means, “Science in real life.” This grant facilitates opportunities for science education groups like the Flint Hills Discovery Center to bring science education to our community at everyday activities (like sporting events). Science in Vivo is about seeing what happens when we mix some science in as people go about their lives. Science in Vivo conditions are live, in-person, social, away from the laboratory, and involve a lively integration of science with other cultural forms. To learn more about Science in Vivo and the projects they are funding, please visit https://sciencefestivals.org/blog/first-science-in-vivo-teams-announced/